14 DAY TRIAL // An increasing number of malware threats is currently affecting the Android operating system, a recent report from F-Secure Labs shows.
Covering the third quarter of the year, the report unveils that a total of 252 new mobile threat families and variants of existing families for Android were discovered in the timeframe.
Out of a total of 259 new mobile threat families discovered, 7 were aimed at the Symbian mobile platform, F-Secure Labs’ Mobile Threat Report July-September 2013 unveils.
The figure shows a worrying increase in malware when compared to the second quarter of the year, when only 205 threat families and variants were found.
Furthermore, the report unveils that a new toolkit called Androrat APK binder is making the rounds, allowing for easier inserting of malicious code into legitimate applications for Android.
This also proves that the complexity of Android malware is increasing, the report suggests, adding that one in five mobile threats are now bots.
However, it appears that a smaller number of malware threats are making an appearance in the Google Play Store, mainly due to better security measures.
On the other hand, the number of apps that infringe on privacy by overcollecting users’ data is on the rise in the Google Play store, which is of concern as well.
“People understand there’s something questionable about giving their information to big data, yet they give a lot of the same information to questionable apps all the time” says Sean Sullivan, Security Advisor at F-Secure Labs.
“At least with companies like Google, there is some accountability and some established privacy practices. For example if you delete your Gmail account, they will delete your data.”
“But with these little apps, you have no idea what they’re doing with your data. And you know what they’re doing? They’re selling it to marketing networks,” Sean Sullivan concluded.